Monthly Archives: November 2013

No one can remain indifferent at the cunning of the hare, the mischievous intelligence of the tortoise, the shrewdness or the stupidity of the monkey, the opportunism of the chameleon. To behave like them or not, is not an external obligation: it is wisdom. In the stories and proverbs that go with them, animals play…

Where love is, night will never fall (Rundi-Burundi). Love is like a serious illness (Mongo-DR.Congo): very difficult to recover. Love consequences are far from the eyes but near the heart (Popo-Togo). Love is at the base of many things: Love generates praises, hate, and gossip (Mongo-DR Congo). At times, it ought not to be encouraged:…

One grows up only once (Kalenjin-Kenya). You never know what a young man will be as an old man (Zande-Sudan). Young people tend to be impatient. If the piglet asks its mother why her snout is so long, she will answer: “When you grow up, you will see that your snout will also be long”…

Words in Africa have weight, there is strength in them: “They create and give you life”. Some words are as solid as the yam (roots) and as sweet as kola (nuts), especially those spoken by the ancestors, who have handed them down to their descendants for them …. to eat. And to make them tastier,…

Internal upheavals, which reflect a broader redefinition of geopolitics in North Africa and the Middle East, is not the only problem Egypt is facing. Cairo is also worried by Nile water row with Ethiopia. Last 13 June, the Ethiopian parliament ratified the new Nile Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement, opposed by Egypt. On 20 June,…

The sun has not yet risen when Haji and Mosi, respectively 14 and 12, leave home to reach the mine. On their way they meet Juma, who is 12 too. They joke and talk about their favourite team’s shirt they are going to buy with their week’s pay. In a few minutes they will plunge…

More than 40 percent of the food that is consumed is imported. Food sovereignty is at risk in Mexico due to the increasing dependence on food imports. For the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), this situation is worrisome because of the volatility of international food prices. “An international context of volatile and high…

Political conflicts in Cairo, and the civil war that broke out in Syria in 2011, between rebel groups and President Bashar Assad’s forces, have inflicted heavy damage on the countries’ cultural heritage. There have already been instances of irreparable destruction of several cultural properties, and many others are at risk. Besides military attacks, “sideline damages”…

For the peoples of southern Togo, the birth of a child signifies the return of an ancestor. We present some rites that accompany the introduction of the newborn into the cosmos and society. In Africa, birth is never just an ordinary, monotonous, or indifferent event. This is because every birth is the affirmation of…

Maasai life is full of feasts and festivities and occasions to celebrate. Looking at a Maasai man’s or woman’s life-cycle gives a fair overview of the rich and full life they celebrate. This will become clear with the description of a particular ceremony: a child’s name-giving. During the first four to six months of life,…

“The screenplay for Kinshasa Kids was born out of a kaleidoscope of different lives.” These words, by the Belgian film director Marc-Henri Wainberg, say a lot about this movie. It won the Council of Europe’s prize for human rights, and can be described as an attempt to provide an insight into Kinshasa’s street life through…

The Cunama, also known as the Baza, are a small ethnic group considered the most ancient of Eritrea’s inhabitants. They now number around 120,000 in Eritrea (roughly 2% of the total population), 15,000 in Sudan, and 5,000 in Ethiopia. The life of the Cunama, from birth to old age – and even after death, is…